UPCOMING SEMINAR: Legal Issues Pertaining to Bedbugs & How Landlords Can Protect Themselves

Hello Everyone --- I hope that you are all enjoying your summer.

I wanted to let you know about a free seminar that I will be giving on the Legal Issues Pertaining To Bedbugs and What Landlords Can Do To Protect Themselves on Wednesday, July 22, 2015.

I will be presenting this 1-1.5 hour presentation as part of Batzner Pest Control's 5th Annual Bed Bug Seminar.

Here are the details:

- What: Batzner 5th Annual Bed Bug Seminar

- When: Wednesday, July 22, 201. The seminar check-in and complimentary breakfast starts at 8:30am. The seminar program runs from 9:00am-3:30pm. I will be speaking around 2:30 pm.

- Where: Brookfield Suites Hotel

- Cost: Free seminar, with lunch included

- You can register at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=ro5uzwcab&oeidk=a07eb31uzf690dbb2d3

Here is a link to Batzner's website where you can view the full brochure.

Hope to see many of you there.

T

Free Bed Bug Seminar On July 10, 2014

Batzner Bed Bug Services, Inc. will be hosting their 4th Annual Bed Bug Seminar at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel at 375 S. Moorland Road in Brookfield on Thursday, July 10, 2014. The seminar will run from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

The seminar is FREE and includes lunch.

Topics will include basic bed bug information, bed bug history, bed bug monitoring, challenges, and trends and legal issues pertaining to bed bug. The seminar will also include a panel discussion and a demonstration by Batzner's bed bug scent detection canine team.

A copy of the detailed brochure can be viewed by clicking here.

I will be presenting on the topic of "Legal Issues Pertaining to Bed Bugs and How Landlords Can Protect Themselves" and will be speaking at approximately 1:15 pm

Pre-registration is required.

So far there are 100 attendees pre-registered. This should be a great event and well worth the cost . . . . oh wait, there is no cost - it is FREE!

Hope to see many of you there.

T

Don't Miss The Landlording Event of The Year - AASEW Trade Show on Friday, September 27th

Hello Everyone --- The event of the year -- the AASEW's Conference & Trade Show -- will be held in a little more than 1 week.

You will not want to miss this great event at its new location at Potawatomi Bingo Casino.

When: Friday, September 27, 2103 from 11 am - 4:30 pm (Doors open at 10 am)

Where: Potawatomi Bingo Casino, 1721 West Canal Street, Milwaukee, WI 53233

How Much? Free to all Landlords with pre-registration at www.apartmentassoc.org otherwise the cost will be $10 at the door.

Doors open at 10 to allow you time to meet with and learn about all of the great products and services of our vendors.

Complimentary food will be available throughout the day.

The first even will start at 11 am when we will be presenting an very special award to Wisconsin Senator Frank Lasee for all of his work and support in getting last year's Act 143 (Landlord Omnibus Law) passes and advancing Senate Bill 179 which will (hopefully) soon be law later this fall.

The award presentation will be followed by various seminars throughout the day. I will be presenting a seminar at 3:30 pm on "Legal Issues Pertaining to Bed Bugs and How Landlords Can Protect Themselves." The other seminars that will be offered are listed below.

• 11:15 - Social Media: Are you doing it right?
• 11:15 - Bed bugs in a multi-family environment
• 12:30 - I'm on Linked In, Now What?
• 12:30 - Making the Grade: Financing Your Investment Property
• 1:30 - Mold - Be Prepared, Not Afraid
• 1:30 - Working with Milwaukee's Dept of Neighborhood Services
• 2:30 - Rental Collectsion into the 21st Century
• 2:30 - Multi Family Energy Savings Program
• 3:30 - Milwaukee County Evictions
• 3:30 - Legal Issues Pertaining to Bed Bugs and How Landlords Can Protect Themselves

Following the seminars we will be having several raffle prizes including giving away an iPad -- you must be present to win.

Landlord Owes $40,000 to Tenant In Baltimore Bed Bug Lawsuit

I stated in one of my prior posts that with the influx of bed bug infestations around the country, that it would only be a matter of time until we saw an increase in bed bug litigation as well.

While bed bug litigation is in its infancy, it has taken a large step forward recently.

A jury in Baltimore recently awarded a tenant $40,000 in damages, in what is described by the tenant's attorney as the "first bed bug trial in Baltimore." While I was not present at the 3 day trial or able to read a transcript of the trial, a recent news report indicates that the basis of the large damage award was the landlord's delay in addressing the bed bug infestation in the tenant's apartment. Allegedly, the bed bugs were introduced into the apartment complex by a neighboring tenant who then vacated, causing the bed bugs to migrate to the plaintiff's unit in search of food.

This verdict should concern landlords everywhere. We are now aware know that 12 individuals in Baltimore, felt a tenant should be awarded damages, and a landlord should be required to pay them, even though the landlord did not introduce the pests into the apartment complex. The jury award was based solely on the landlord's delay in addressing and resolving the bed bug infestation.

This is a warning to landlords everywhere that you cannot just sit back and tell your tenants that it is their responsibility to get rid og the bed bugs, even if the tenant brought the pests to the apartment. I have fielded many telephone calls from landlords and management companies, where I was told that the landlord/agent didn't feel that they should be required to eradicate the bed bugs since it was the tenant that brought them into the unit.

I think it would be foolhardy to sit back and require your tenant to eradicate the bugs. My advice to landlords is that you -- the landlord -- should take control of the situation and vet and hire a qualified exterminator. If you leave it to your tenants to eradicate the bed bugs, you may be sorry. A tenant may attempt to use homemade remedies that do not work and will allow the infestation to grow larger. A tenant may elect to use bug bombs -- which wil only cause the bed bugs to spread out to different units, making treatment harder.

It is your property. It is your investment. Do not trust its safekeeping to a tenant. You want to ensure that the situation is handled promptly and professionally. You can deal with who should responsible for the cost of eradication after the bed bugs have been killed.

We will be seeing more and more bed bug litigation in the future. The plaintiff's lawyer in Baltimore --- who hilariously is known as "Maryland's bedbug barrister" -- was quoted as saying that he has been contacted by more than 200 people in the last couple of years regarding handling their bed bug lawsuits and that he currently has 18 bed bug lawsuits pending.

Bedbugs . . . There Is Insurance For That, Now.

It was only a matter of time and I'm surprised that it didn't come sooner. Two different companies are now offerring bed bug insurance for hotel/motel ownes, universities, and landlords. Willis North America and Aon Risk Services are now offerring seperate lines of this specialty insurance.

I have yet to get ahold of a policy to see what it covers and what it excludes but from some articles that I just read in the Baltimore Sun, LA Times, International Business Advisor, the Willis North America coverage includes decontamination services, rehabilitation expenses, lost profits due to business interruption, crisis management (24/7 hotline), corrdination wth regulatory authorities, risk control and prevention. Here is a News Release on the new insurance from Aon.

Apparently a NJ university and an Oklahoma hotel have already purchased the insurance.

I know of some large multi-unit apartment owners that have spent thousands on trying to rid themselves of bedbugs - this insurance might be appealing to them.

Let me know if you or anyone you know has a copy of such a policy, I would be interested in reviewing it.

Don't let the bedbugs bite.

Bedbugs . . . Coming Soon To A Rental Property Near You

No longer are bedbugs just a problem in foreign countries, New York City or Las Vegas. Bedbugs are alive and crawling in Wisconsin rental housing units. They have been found in single family rental homes and duplexes in addition to large multi-unit facilities. Unlike many other insects, bedbugs are not attracted to dirty living conditions or spilled food. So you may have a perfectly clean tenant with a spotless apartment unit, and they could still have bedbugs.

Bedbugs are attracted to the carbon dioxide that we emit when we breathe and they dine on our blood. They are the ultimate hitchhikers and enter apartment units on furniture, clothing, suitcases and many other objects. Unfortunately, the eradication of bedbugs is difficult at best and is often quite expensive. Your best defense against bedbugs in your rental properties is to prevent them from arriving in the first place.

I have worked with several landlords and property managers over the last few years on bedbug issues. Although I cannot prevent you from ever experiencing a bedbug infestation, there is some information I can provide that should be of assistance if you ever have several hundred unwanted crawling tenants move into your rental property.

First, you need to educate yourself about what is required of a landlord with regard to providing your tenants with a habitable rental unit. This includes both at the time of initial occupancy and in the middle of a lease term (such as after a tenant contacts you about a bedbug infestation in their rental unit). In the city of Milwaukee there is a local ordinance requiring a landlord to exterminate any bug infestation in their rental properties, regardless of who caused the problem. Practically speaking – and in order to protect your real estate investment – you should never allow your tenants to be in charge of the bedbug extermination process. This process should be solely your responsibility. Later, after the bedbug eradication efforts are underway, you can speak with your tenant about who is responsible for paying for the extermination costs.

Second, educate your tenants about bedbugs. Teach them about the signs of a bedbug infestation. Caution them against buying used or second hand furniture. Advise them to take basic preventative measures when they travel. Inform them to contact you immediately if they think they have bedbugs in their rental unit. And explain to them that if they do not cooperate 100% with your bedbug eradication efforts, their new co-tenants will continue to share their bed.

Third, make sure that any written rental documents you are using are up to date, do not contain any provisions that will cause them to be void in the state of Wisconsin, and address bedbug infestations and the costs of eradication.

Finally, understand the special issues that arise when prosecuting or defending against bedbug litigation. Litigation involving bedbugs can arise in many different contexts, including: tenants suing landlords for health care bills related to bedbug bites, tenants suing landlords for reimbursement of rent the tenants paid during a bedbug infestation, tenants abating rent due to a current bedbug infestation, tenants moving out and breaking their rental agreement due to a bedbug infestation, tenants suing a landlord for making (allegedly) improper deductions from their security deposit to cover the cost of bedbug eradication, landlords suing tenants for unpaid rent after the tenants have vacated due to a bedbug infestation, and landlords suing tenants in an attempt to recoup costs advanced for bedbug extermination treatments.

If you are a landlord or a property manager, the question is no longer if you will be confronted with bedbugs, but rather when you will be confronted with them. Make sure that you have taken all the necessary precautions before it happens so that when it does, you will be in the best possible position to respond quickly and appropriately.

If you are interested in learning more about the legal aspects involving bedbugs and how you can better protect yourself legally if you should encounter bedbugs in your rentals, I will speaking on this topic at the upcoming Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin's (AASEW) Annual Trade Show at Serb Hall on Wednesday, September 28, 2011.

Don't Miss Bed Bug Boot Camp on June 28th, 2011

In response to the unprecedented spike in the resurgence of of bed bugs in the past year, Wil-Kil Pest Control is offerring a Bed Bug Boot Camp. From pest identification to the legal ramifications of bed bugs, both sessions offer property owners and managers the tools they need to effectively respond to the threat of bed bugs and includes a Bed Bug Canine Scent Detection Demonstration.

Click here to see the Bed Bug Boot Camp flyer.

The Milwaukee seminar will take place on June 28th, 2011 from 1 pm - 4:30 pm at the Radisson Hotel Milwaukee West at 2303 N. Mayfair Road in Milwaukee.

I will be speaking at the Milwaukee session on the legal ramifications of bed bugs nto landlords and property managers. Specifically, I will discuss the requirement that landlords provide tenants with a habitable rental property, local ordinances regarding extermination issues, and how a landlord and/or property manager can best prepare themselves to deal with any legal issues that may arise from a bed bug infestation.

There is no cost to attend the seminar. You must however, preregister for the seminar by going to Wil-Kil's website.

There will also be a Bed Bug Boot Camp in the Madison area on June 30, 2001 from 1 pm - 4:30 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn Madison (West) at 1801 Deming Way in Middleton. Atty. Jay Koritzinsky will be speaking on the legal aspects of bed bugs at this session.

This will be a very timely and informative seminar that will be well worth your time. Hope to see you all there.

Bed Bug Liability Poses Legal Quandary

I was recently interviewed by the Wisconsin Law Journal about the issue of bed bug liability in rental housing. You can read the article by Jack Zemlicka here.

If you are interested in additional information on bed bugs you should review my earlier posts on this pesky subject.

Some of The Best Bedbug Information That I Have Read To Date

If my crystal ball is correct we will be seing a large uptick in litigation regarding bedbugs in the future -- both tenants suing landlords for not dealing with the bedbug infestations and landlords suing tenants for bringing the critters into the landord's property. There have already been lots of lawsuits regarding bedbugs, many of which I have touched on in a prior blog post. If you need some basic information on bedbugs please refer to my first post which includes a very good Powerpoint presentation from Giertsen Company of Wisconsin on bedbugs and how to control and eradicate an infestation.

In my continuing quest to learn more about theses pests --- yes, it is true I do not have any children yet, so I have some extra time on my hands : ) ---- I came across some articles about bedbugs that were written by Dini M. Miller, Ph.D. from Virginia Tech's Department of Entomology, which are extremely thorough and answered many questions that I had on the topic but could not find answers to in other publications.

The one question I can still not find the answer to is what is the proper spelling of bedbugs -- is it bed bug or bedbug???

Dr. Miller's articles include:

1. How To Identify Bed Bug Infestations

This article addresses what bedbugs look like during the different phases of their lives, what a bedbug's molted skin looks like, where you can find molted skin in your home, how to identify a bedbug's fecal spots (yeah, lets just call it what it is --- poop), where to look for the poop, and how to identify bed bug aggregations (i.e. get togethers, pow-wows, parties, family reunions, shin-digs etc. ).

2. Bed Bug Prevention Methods

This article contains some great information on how to prevent bringing bedbugs home with you when you are traveling. Specific tips are given on how to inspect a hotel room before you sleep there and how to prevent bedbugs from crawling into your luggage. I guess I will never be unpacking my clothes from my suitcase during a trip again. The article also addresses why you should avoid used furniture. Visitors to your home may have these little hitchhikers on them and Dr. Miller addresses this issue and what you can do to minimize this from happeneing aside from becoming a recluse and not allowing anyone to visit you ever again. The article talks about encountering bedbugs at laundromats and at the workplace.

3. Bed Bug Biology and Behavior

Learn everything that you ever wanted to know about bedbugs' feeding, mating behavior, egg production, nymph development time, and an adult bedbug's life span. Did you know that a bedbug must take a meal before it can molt and enter the next phase of its life?

4. Bed Bug Treatment Using Insecticides

I was disheartened to read there is no labeled insecticide product that is capable of eliminating a bed bug infestation on its own. In order to kill an infestation, they must be attacked from many angles with many different products or devices. This article discusses (1) liquid insecticide sprays, (2) areosol insecticide sprays, (3) insecticidal dusts, (4) insect growth regulators (IGR's), and (5) repellants.

5. Non-Chemical Bed Bug Management

Dr. Miller addresses the topics of removing clutter, using dissolvable laundry bags, using bed bug detectors (The ClimbUp device), vacuuming, steam, pressurized carbon dioxide snow, diatomaceous earth, mattress encasements, and heating systems (the gold standard) to assist in the eradication of bed bugs.

6. Bed Bug Action Plan For Apartments

It is reccomended that all apartment staff receive bedbug training so that they will know how to identify a bed bug infestation and how to respond to any complaints of bedbugs from tenants. Also addressed is how to establish a community-wide bed bug awareness program and the need to overcome the stigma of bed bugs in order to deal with the widespread infestations throughout the country. Dr. Miller also gives suggestions on how to respond to a complaint of a bed bugs from a tenant living in a multi-unit apartment complex and what to expect regarding control of the problem. Also discussed are the roles that adjacent units and vacant units will play in an infestation in a large apartment complex.

7. Bed Bug Action Plan For Hotels

While this article specificallly addresses bed bugs and hotels, many of the suggested plans that are discussed could apply equally well to apartment complexes. Dr. Miller discusses what to do when you receive a complaint of bedbugs, what to do when you suspect a room is infested, how to treat the rooms adjacent to an infested room, and what to do with employee areas.

If you are interested in learning more about all things bedbug, or if you are dealing with a bedbug infestation personally, I would highly reccomed these articles by Dr. Miler. I have read lots of information on bed bugs over the past year and these articles are some of the best that I have encountered.

Bedbugs, Bedbugs and More Bedbugs!

Since my earlier post on the topic of bedbugs, I have been innodated with more and more information on bed bugs. It seems that every blog or newspaper article you read, every radio station that you listen to, and/or television station that you watch has recently addressed this lovely topic. As a result I thought I would devote another blog post to this topic replete with multiple links to the recent information that I have been reading, listening to, and watching.

The New York Times, in a September 5th, 2010 article, states that "according to Google, general searches for "bedbugs" have increased 83% in the last year and 182% for bedbug-related searches in the last four weeks compared with the same period one year earlier."

Milwaukee Magazine's Milwaukee News Buzz recently published an article explaining that in 2009 the incidence of bedbugs was highest in the Northeast regions of the U.S. but that these pests have expanded significantly thoughout the Midwest --- they have arrived in Milwaukee with a vengeance.

In a different article, the New York Times states that "despite what is often referred to as the "ick factor," bedbugs are relatively clean." Studies have been conducted trying to determine whether or not bed bugs can carry disease. To date, not one study has proven that bed bugs carry diseases. In South Africa researchers have fed bedbugs blood that contains the AIDS virus only to find that the virus dies while in the bed bug. While bedbugs can contain the hepatitus B virus for bugs, studies have show that when the bugs bite chimpanzees, the infection is not passed on to the chimp.

While not necessarily recent -- although I did recently discover it -- Phil Pellitteri of the U.W. Insect Diagnostic Lab wrote a Lab Note entitled Bed Bugs In Wisconsin, which is chock full of information that many of the news articles leave out. According to the Note, bed bugs feed for 3-10 minutes at a time and they will try to feed again 5-10 days later. In Wisconsin there are four different kinds of bedbugs: the human bed bug, the eastern bed bug and two kinds of bird feeding bedbugs. No suprise that the human bedbug (which prefers to feed on humans) is the hardest type to eradicate. Mr. Pellitteri also has some amazing (ly disgusting) close-up photos of these critters.

Time magazine, has a beautiful photo essay on the "pest of the year" -- these photos were taken under a microscope and provide so much detail that you may want to avert your eyes at times.

New York has been so hard hit by bedbug infestations that state housing officials have created a new law that requires all New York landlords to provide rental applicants and tenants with a document that discloses any prior bed bug infestation history. Here is a copy of the disclosure form. Here is a copy of the complaint form for tenant's to use if their New York landlord does not provide them with the bedbug infestation disclosure form.

Bedbug outbreaks have caused so much disruption in Ohio and Kentucky that some pest controllers in those two states are asking the EPA to allow them to use a highly toxic chemical -- propoxur -- which has been shown to cause nervous-system damage in children, in order to attack these bugs in limited situations.

In Cincinnati, one of the cities that has been the hardest hit by bedbugs, a commission has been created to address and attack the bedbug problems facing the city.

Bedbugs are not just infiltrating beds and bedrooms anymore. USA Today published an article about the proliferation of bedbug infestations in offices. According to the article, publishing giant Time magazine recently brought in bedbug sniffing dogs to check for infestations. The IRS had bedbugs in its Philadelphia and Covington, Kentucky offices. Ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi had a minor bedbug issue in its New York office. Reports of bedbugs in AMC movie theater chains and the Empire State Building in New York are also well recognized. According to a survey mentioned in the USA Today article, four out of every 10 bedbug treatments performed by pest management firms were in commercial buildings.

Additional reports of bedbugs have been noted in movie theaters, clothing stores, food plants, factories, and airplanes. The popular-with-the hip-kids clothing store, Ambercrombie and Fitch, had to close two of its stores in NYC in July to deal with bedbug infestations. Bedbugs have also taken over college dormitories at Catawba College, Wake Forest, NYU, Penn State and Missouri State.

While a general pain in the the backside for most of us, the bedbug explosion is creating a new niche for several pest eradication businesses, says the New York Times in a September 8, 2010, article. Costs of eradication can run from hundreds of dollars to spray a small apartment for bedbugs to over $1,000 for heat treatment. Bedbug sniffing dogs -- which are said to "alert" to live bedbugs. One lady, recently laid off from work, bought a specially trained bedbug sniffing beagle for $9,700 and recouped all of her costs in just 3 months doing just 1-3 inspections per week.

Web sites have been created which encourage people to report hotels, apartment complexes, and other locations were bedbugs have been seen -- bedbugregistry.com and bedbugreports.com are two such sites.

National Public Radio's Terri Gross recently aired a 30 minute piece on on bedbugs during her Fresh Air program on September 8, 2010, cutely titled "Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don't Let The Bedbugs . . . ."

I located one website based out of New York, entitled Bedbugger.com, which serves as a clearinghouse of all things bedbug related.

Problems recently arose in Boston with the transition of students prior to the new school year, per a recent NY Times article. One of the key problems is that students are discarding used furniture (that may contain bedbugs) and other students are picking up that same furniture to use in their new apartments. The Mayor of Boston has been discouraging the use of secondhand furniture in the city. Boston's Inspectional Services Department have even gone so far as to create bright orange stickers that they stick on discarded furniture that read "Caution this may contain bedbugs, do not remove." Despite such warning, many students will still take the discarded furniture.

If you had told me early this spring that tenants would ignore telltale signs of bedbug infestation in used furniture and still use the furniture in their apartment I would not have believed you. But this past summer while visiting a client's apartment complex, I watched a manager inspect a used couch that a tenant wanted moving into their apartment. The manager found clear indications of bedbugs on the couch -- which he showed to the tenant -- and forbade the tenant from moving the couch into the apartment building. Just a few minutes later, after the manager and I returned from taking care of another issues, I witnessed that same tenant returning to his truck with an empty dolly ---- he had disregarded the manager's warning and moved the bedbug-infested couch into the apartment building anyhow. I was blown away by this.

As can be expected, there as also been a sharp increase in litigation involving bedbugs. A couple that stayed in a Catskills resort has sued the hotel they stayed in for $20 million after the wife sufferred over 500 bedbug bites and had a severe allergic reaction that resulted in a hospital stay. A Fox News Channel employee sued the building owner, and management comany claiming she got bedbugs from working at the city newsoom in New York, and that the defendants were negligent in rectifying the situation. While there are reports of many lawsuits being filed as a result of bedbugs, most appear to have been settled out of court prior to trial, to avoid negative publicity.

I performed a Westlaw search on bedbug-related lawsuits in Wisconsin a few days ago and only found one case that has any precedential value in this state. The case is from 2003 and is entitled Mathias v. Accor Economy Lodging, Inc., 347 F.3d 672, and involves a guest of a Motel 6 hotel chain that sued the hotel for damages caused by the hotel ignoring the many bedbug infestations in many of the hotel rooms. The evidence that was presented demonstrated that the hotel was aware of the bedbug problems. Nonetheless the hotel refused to perform suggested eradication measures and continued to rent out hotel rooms, to unsuspecting guests, that they knew were infested with bedbugs based on prior guests' reports. One guest complained of bedbugs in his hotel room and was moved to another room, where he then located more bedbugs, and had to be moved again. A jury awarded the plaintiff/guest $5,000 in compensatory damages and $186,000 in punitive damages. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury award (which had been appealed by the hotel chain) and went so far as to state that the hotel's "failure to warn guests or to take effective measures to eliminate bedbugs amounted to fraud and probably to battery as well."

Lawsuits are even being filed by companies that produce products to assist in the eradication of bedbugs. Bloomburg Businessweek reported on September 17, 2010 that JAB Distributors, Inc., which produces a pateneted bed bug proof mattress cover called "Protect-A-Bed" sued Martha Stewart Living for infringing on JAB's patent when it sold a competing mattress cover that was impervious to bedbugs.

On September 21, 2010, I was listening to the radio (Bob and Brian in the morning, specifically) and learned that Rosemount, Illinois was hosting the North American Bedbug Summit that day and there were over 400 attendees signed up to attend. The Summit was covered by the Today Show.

Bedbugs are amazing critters that can live up to a year without feeding ( I find that hard to believe but that is what I read) and they reproduce like guppies. A universal theme in all the articles that I read, videos that I watched, and broadcasts that I listened to, was that prevention is the best way to defeat the bedbug. Clearly education is needed on this topic for both landlords and tenants. As long as we have landlords that believe they can kill infestations with moth balls and tenants that continue to move bedbug-infested furniture into their apartments, this problem will continue and grow larger. The costs to eradicate these varmits can put many a landlord "into the red" and out of business.

I suggest that we as landlords learn all we can about preventing bedbugs form infesting our rental properties. We should then take things a step further and pass that education that we learned to our tenants. I am even considering adding to my rental agreement that my tenants cannot move any used or secondhand furniture into my rental units. I have clients that have spent close to $100,000 to date on bedbug eradication measures. I don't know about you but I do not make enough money as a landlord to be able to afford paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars to eradicate a bedbug infestation.

BED BUGS: Everything That You Wanted To Know . . . and More

If you have not heard -- bed bugs are making a comeback. Bed bugs are wreaking havoc on hotels, apartment complexes, and anywhere else where people congregate. I have even been told that 75% of all of the hotels in Las Vegas are infested with bed bugs - I don't know if that is true or not - but with the influx of people entering and exiting that city daily, it would not surprise me, since bed bugs are the ultimate hitchhiker. Unlike roaches or other varmits, bed bugs are attracted to people - not dirty living conditions, so you can have a perfectly clean apartment that still may be infested with bed bugs. In the past very strong chemicals (DDT) kept the bed bug population at bay, but with many pesticides now outlawed, bed bugs have made a comeback, much to the dismay of the rental community.

The pesky bed bug has appeared at more than a few of my client's rental complexes and trsut me when I tell you they are expensive and difficult to indicate. The best way to eliminate bed bugs is to prevent them from even showing up in the first place. But prevention is difficult since they hitch rides on furniture, clothing and other personal belongings.

Whereas, bed bugs used to be the specialty of exterminators who would spray chemicals around the infested rooms to kill them and their eggs, there are now other contractors that have entered the field. There are bed bug sniffing dogs that can be rented to sniff around your rental unit and alert you to any possible infestation and other companies that are killing bed bugs by different means then chemicals - such as heat treatment.

Because of the huge increase of bed bugs being found in rental housing lately, the AASEW's June membership meeting included a presentation on this "itchy" subject by AASEW business member, Giertsen Company of Wisconsin. Giertsen Co. is primarily a remediation company (wind, water and fire damage) however they have learned that the heating equipmen that is used to dry out a water damages property also can be used to kill the pesky bed bug.

Below is the PowerPoint presentation that Patrick Meyer of Giertsen Co. shared with the AASEW on June 21, 2010.

The old saying that my parents would tell me prior to going to bed when I was a kid -- "Don't let the bed bugs bite" -- has a whole new context for me after viewing this presentation.

Giertsen Bed Bug Blog

View more presentations from Petrie Stocking.